A Daily Devotional

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The Lord God of Heaven


"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah" (Ezra 1:2).

It is noteworthy that the words of this verse are almost the same as in the last verse of II Chronicles. This is an indication that Ezra the scribe (who wrote the book of Ezra) was also the compiler and editor of the two books of Chronicles.

Even more noteworthy is the fact that the great emperor Cyrus seemed to acknowledge that the God of Israel was not just a tribal god, as many have claimed, but the Lord God of heaven -- that is Jehovah Elohim -- recognizing Him as both Creator and Redeemer of the world. The Persians were largely followers of Zoroaster but his religious system did bear some resemblance to the true monotheism of Israel.

But Cyrus had been called, and even named, by God, long before He was born (Isaiah 44:28-45:6). When he conquered Babylon, the prophet Daniel was there (Daniel 6:28). The Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that Daniel even became prime minister under Cyrus and was able to read Isaiah's remarkable prophecy to him, thus influencing him to send the Jews back to Jerusalem.

There have also been other Gentile rulers who acknowledged God, even before Christ came. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, once hating God, finally was forced to confess that He was "the most High" and "King of heaven" (Daniel 4:34,37). Another was the Queen of Sheba, who recognized "the Lord thy God" (again Jehovah Elohim, I Kings 10:9). Then there was the king of Nineveh and Assyria, who believed in God at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:6-10). In fact in the ages to come "the kings of the earth" will all "bring their glory and honor" to the Lord in the holy city (Revelation 21:24).

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Practicing What We Preach
April 5, 2006

"For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15).

Christ's life matched His teachings, and so must ours. Consider, for example, Christ's teaching that we should "pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). This is matched by His prayer for His tormentors while on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Elsewhere, He taught that our circle of influence should be greater than those of like thinking (Matthew 5:47), a fact which caused His detractors great consternation (Luke 15:2). He taught that our prayers should not be done so that "they may be seen of men" (Matthew 6:5). And the gospels record several times where He went "into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35; see also Mark 6:46). Christ placed great value on children, as we see in Matthew 18:6, and later He welcomed them (Matthew 19:14). He taught Peter to forgive "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22) and later forgave Peter for his co ntinued denials (Mark 16:7).

Christ advocated paying taxes (Mark 12:17) and later enabled Peter to pay tribute for both of them (Matthew 17:27). He taught that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15), and He Himself had "not where to lay His head" (Luke 9:58). Likewise He placed great store in aiding the poor (Luke 14:13), both in teaching and in practice (Matthew 14:13-21). Perhaps His teaching "love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44) is best illustrated by His tender prayer for those who would soon take His life as He hung on the cross for the very ones responsible for His death, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34).

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Treasures of the Snow


"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail" (Job 38:22).

It is interesting that this book, the oldest in the Bible, contains more references to snow, ice, and frost than any other book of the Bible. This is despite the fact that Job's homeland was in what is now essentially a desert region. Possibly the effects of the post-Flood Ice Age were still strong in Job's day.

In any case, the beautiful phrase, "treasures of the snow," is both appropriate and prophetic. Its crystal structure, though mostly in the form of delicate six-pointed "stars," is endlessly varied and always intricately symmetrical and incredibly beautiful.

The snow is a treasure in other ways as well. The winter's snow pack in the mountains is often called "white gold" because of its indispensable water storage capacity, released in the melting season each spring to provide life to teeming cities and irrigation in the desert for needed food supplies. The snow also aids in maintaining the planet's chemical cycles by returning various elements in the nuclei of its flakes back from the ocean to the lands from which they were leached and transported by rivers to the oceans. When the snowpack becomes a glacier, it can greatly assist in the breakup of rocks to form fertile soils.

In the Scriptures, its pure white color is often used to symbolize the cleansing of a sinful heart that trusts the Lord. "Wash me," said David, "and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7). "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" the Lord promises those who come to Him for salvation (Isaiah 1:18).

As the snow comes down from heaven, so comes the Word of God to ask the soul as in our text: "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" (Job 38:22).

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He Knows Our Hearts


"Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)" (II Chronicles 6:30).

Eight times in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, he beseeches God to "hear from heaven" (vv.21,23,25,27,30,33,35,39) when His people confess their sins and pray for deliverance. It is marvelous that God, whose "dwelling place" is in heaven (vv.21,30,33,39) can actually hear the prayers of people here on Earth, but we remember that He is omnipresent through His Holy Spirit.

Even more marvelous, if possible, is the fact that He can hear prayers uttered only in our hearts. But He is also omniscient, and thus knows the very thoughts of our hearts.

Then, as we read of Jesus' wrath at the desecration of the temple by those who would commercialize their religion there, it was said that He "needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man" (John 2:25). This is direct confirmation that Jesus is God, for only God knows the thoughts of our hearts.

It is a wonderful day when we realize that God knows our hearts. It can be frightening, of course, if our hearts are not right with God, but it can also be of great comfort and exhilaration -- it all depends on the thoughts and motivations of our hearts. As David wrote long ago: "Thou understandest my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:2).

We need, therefore, to guard our thought-life just as much as our social life, "for He knoweth the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44:21). May God help us to be "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5). It is a good thing if our thoughts please Him.

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The Apple of the Eye


"For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye" (Zechariah 2:.

This common phrase is often used to identify an object of one's special favor or affection. The apple of the eye, of course, is not a fruit, but the pupil of the eye, so essential for sight that it becomes a peculiarly apt symbol for a prized possession. It is used five times in the Bible as a translation of three different Hebrew nouns, none of which refer to the actual apple fruit. In each case, however, it speaks of something highly valuable to the owner.

Three of these (Deuteronomy 32:10; Lamentations 2:18; and our text above) are in reference to the chosen people, Israel, as the "apple of the eye" of God Himself. God has often punished Israel for her sins and has allowed other nations to be His rod of judgment, but woe to that nation that touches the apple of His eye in this way!

That individual believers can also be so regarded by the Lord is evident from one of David's prayers: "Show thy marvelous lovingkindness. . . . Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings" (Psalm 17:7-8).

To be kept by God as He would keep the very apple of His own eye, requires an implicit truth in Him and His Word. In fact, His Word must become the apple of our eye! "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye" (Proverbs 7:1-2).

There are many beautiful and appropriate figures used for God's Word ("light," "hammer," "sword," "milk," etc.), but none more personally meaningful than this. May the Holy Scriptures, the indispensable Word of God, truly be the apple of the eye for each of us!

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The "Triumphal" Entry


"For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:39).

When the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the first day of the final week before His crucifixion, riding on a little donkey, as predicted over 400 years before by the prophet Zechariah (9:9), He was thereby finally claiming to be Israel's promised King Messiah. Large numbers of people cheered Him on, strewing palm leaves in His path as a carpet (hence the name Palm Sunday) and "cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest" (Matthew 21:9).

This also had been prophesied many centuries previously, when the psalmist had exulted over His apparent triumph; "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. . . . This is the day which the Lord hath made; . . . Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Psalm 118:22,24,26).

But even as they were still crying out, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38), Jesus knew the shallowness of their profession and wept over the city, saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" (v.42).

Instead, the beloved city was soon to be destroyed by the Romans, along with their temple, and the people would be scattered all over the world, "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (v.44).

One day, however, He will come again, and then their hearts will have been prepared and they will finally recognize Him and receive Him. Then finally they will be able to say with understanding and sincerity, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:39).

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The Hand of the Lord


"This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him" (Ezra 7:6).

Neither Ezra, who was a scribe, nor Nehemiah, who was apparently a butler, had been prepared by either study or experience to supervise a great construction project, rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem and the wall of the city, both of which had been destroyed many years before by the armies of Babylon. Yet God called them to these ministries and led them and protected them as they carried them out.

They were both careful, then, to give God the credit for what they had accomplished. No less than six times in Ezra and twice in Nehemiah they reminded their readers that God's hand had been upon them as they supervised the work (see Ezra 7:6,9,28; 8:18-22,31; Nehemiah 2:8,18).

There had been many difficulties and much opposition, but as Paul would later say: "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

We also need to be careful to give God the credit for anything He enables us to accomplish in His service. Even such a great and useful Christian as the apostle Paul had to say: "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10).

We remember however that the hand of the Lord can be a chastening hand, as well as a guiding and providing hand. When a certain false prophet tried "to pervert the right ways of the Lord," Paul said: "The hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind. . ." (Acts 13:10-11). And so it was. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

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The Righteous Judge


"The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).

When Abraham was interceding with God to spare Sodom if even ten "righteous" people were there, he asked: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). The Hebrew word (mishpat) refers to a formal judgment about right and wrong and is more commonly translated "judgment."

Indeed the divine Judge will do right and give right judgments in all things, for He "is righteous in all His ways" and "canst not look on iniquity" (Habakkuk 1:13).

Ever since Adam disobeyed the Word of God, however, all his descendants have been unrighteous in their ways. God's righteous judgment has been that "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

Thus a truly righteous Judge would not only have to consign Sodom to destructive "brimstone and fire from the Lord" (Genesis 19:24), but every one of us as well "into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15) forever.

But God, being not only the righteous Judge, but also "a faithful Creator" (I Peter 4:19), had a plan whereby He could "declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past" and both "be just, and the justifier" of those who had been lost sinners. (Romans 3:25-26). "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (8:3). Those who believe on the Son of God as their substitute and Savior are now "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (3:24).

So, Christ has been "made unto us . . . righteousness" (I Corinthians 1:30). Furthermore, our loving Savior has now Himself become our righteous Judge, for "the Father . . . hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22).

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God Our Savior


"But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared" (Titus 3:4).

Six times in the pastoral epistles Paul refers to God (evidently meaning the Father) as our Savior (I Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4). Usually, however, he and the other New Testament writers identify Jesus Christ as our Savior. "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18, for example). In the same fashion, Paul relates that his commission to preach the gospel came from "God our Savior" (Titus 1:3), while elsewhere he says his commission came "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12).

Is this a contradiction? No! In fact, references to God as our Savior should not surprise us, for it is found in numerous places in the Old Testament. (See, for example, Psalm 106:21.) Furthermore, our understanding of the Trinity insists that all three persons of the Godhead are One in God. Of course, Christ made many references to the fact that He was not acting on His own, but came to do "the will of Him that sent me" (John 6:38). Paul himself seemed to be comfortable with this seeming overlap, for in one sentence he wrote, "God our Savior; . . . Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 1:3-4). Such usages further confirm also that Jesus is God.

While Christ was the primary instrument of salvation as the perfect sacrifice for sin, God the Father is the source of all human salvation, and the application of the title Savior to Him is proper. Indeed, we derive great comfort as we see the role of all three Persons of the Godhead involved in our salvation.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:10).

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The Temptation of Jesus


"And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him" (Mark 1:13).

The forty-day testing of Jesus came immediately after the voice from heaven was heard proclaiming Him the Son of God. There He fasted for forty long days and nights, continually being urged by the devil to use His divine power to meet His own needs and exalt His own position.

Those who observe Lent (a word derived from the Old English word for "lengthen," referring to the lengthening days of spring) model their "fast" after this 40-day ordeal of Jesus. But the Lenten period (which begins on "Ash Wednesday," forty week days before Easter each year) hardly matches the suffering which He endured.

Furthermore, His testing did not end with the forty days. He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). He was fully human, but never yielded to sin in any degree. He "did no sin" (I Peter 2:22), He "knew no sin" (II Corinthians 5:21), and "in Him is no sin" (I John 3:5).

But what if He had sinned? Then, of course, we would have no Savior and would be separated forever from God.

Could He have sinned? That question has long been debated, but the glorious truth is that He remained "without blemish and without spot" (I Peter 1:19) throughout His life, and thus could finally "take away our sins" (I John 3:5) by His substitutionary death and resurrection.

In resisting temptation, Jesus acted only in His human strength, depending on the Father, just as we must do. At the same time, He was still God the Son, and "God cannot be tempted with evil" (James 1:13). He knew, and the Father knew, that He would never sin. The "testing" was really for our benefit so that all of us would also know that He is forever sinless and thus could be our perfect Savior.

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Enclosed by Wickedness

"For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalm 22:16).

This is the central verse of the 22nd Psalm, the remarkable prophetic psalm which describes in terrible detail the sufferings of Christ on the cross a thousand years before they were fulfilled.

Except for John, His disciples were not there to comfort Him. For the most part, the mobs howling around the cross were His enemies. The "assembly of the wicked" may well have been a gathering of demons -- personified as strong bulls and ravening lions, including Satan himself. The "dogs" that were "compassing" Him may refer to the Roman soldiers or possibly to a mob of homosexuals (who had been called "dogs" by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:17-18).

The terrible spikes that pierced His hands and feet had been affixed by Gentiles, but the whole scenario had been arranged by the Jews. However, all of us are guilty of piercing His very heart as well as His hands and feet, because He died to save us from our sins. He "by the grace of God" had to "taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).

The day is coming, however, when "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. . ." (Zechariah 12:10).

But what about the rest of us? "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him" (Revelation 1:7).

That was indeed an awful day when He hung on the cross, surrounded by wickedness, but many today can call it Good Friday, because there, all evil men and devils and even death itself were defeated forever.

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Bewitched
April 15, 2006

"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" (Galatians 3:1).

The Greek word for "bewitched" is used only this once in the New Testament and does not necessarily refer to witchcraft as such. The connotation is "fascinated" or "deceived." Unlike most of his other epistles, the book of Galatians includes no commendations from Paul, nor even any prayer requests. Paul evidently was very disappointed in this church and its ministry.

He had clearly preached the gospel to them, setting forth "Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:2) among them, and they had apparently believed and started out well. They seemed to understand the great doctrines of salvation by grace and of liberty in Christ, and it was hard for Paul to understand how they had been so quickly led astray.

If anything, this is even a greater problem today than in Paul's day. Professing Christians are being "tossed to and fro . . . with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14) -- not only with legalism (as in Galatia), but also with evolutionism, hedonism, emotionalism, materialism, and many other unscriptural heresies. Many who profess to be Christians have, like the Galatians, been "bewitched" by clever persuasion and peer pressure into such deceptions.

They may consider themselves especially enlightened in some way, or intellectual, or just up-to-date, but Paul would call them "foolish" just as he did the Galatians. In Christ alone -- our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord -- are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). As Paul concluded his letter to the Galatians: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

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Christ Is Risen


"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (I Corinthians 15:20).

When the women, very early on that morning after the Sabbath rest, came to the sepulcher in Joseph's new garden, where they had seen Joseph and Nicodemus bury their Lord Jesus, they were greeted by angels with an amazing announcement. "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said" (Matthew 28:5-6).

"He is risen; He is not here." These wonderful words were also recorded by Mark (Mark 16:6) and by Luke, (Luke 24:6). John, who wrote his own account many years later after the story had been widely circulated, told instead how Mary Magdalene had seen Jesus Himself standing outside the tomb, calling her by name. (John 20:14-16).

The apostle Paul later wrote to the Corinthian church, stressing in detail the "many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3) that Christ is risen indeed. There were apparently some who, even at that time, were doubting whether the dead would ever live again, so Paul reminded them: "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is not Christ risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain" (I Corinthians 15:13-14).

But it is not in vain! It can be shown that the bodily resurrection of Christ is a proven fact, as certain as any other fact in ancient history. "Now is Christ risen from the dead." And then our text also says that He is merely "the first fruits" in the great resurrection promised for all who accept Christ as Savior. He Himself promised: "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19).

Christ is risen indeed! And God indeed "hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (I Peter 1:3).

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Witnessing to Evolutionary Philosophers


"And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. . . . Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them" (Acts 17:32,34).

Our text verse describes the reaction of the Athenians to Paul's preaching on the resurrection. These listeners seem to have consisted mostly of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers: these were the ones who got Paul to come over to the Areopagus (near the famous Parthenon) to present his case there to an open-air gathering of curious spectators.

Now these philosophers, like most of our modern philosophers, were evolutionists. The Stoics were pantheists and the Epicureans were atheists: neither believed in a personal Creator God nor in a primeval creation.

Paul began his message by stressing the fact of special creation. They had been worshipping many nature gods and goddesses, but Paul insisted that they must turn to the true Creator God, who had revealed Himself in Christ and had "given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (v.31).

Paul seems here to be giving us the general pattern to follow when witnessing to people who neither know nor believe the Bible. That is, begin with the fact of creation, then climax with Christ's resurrection and the requirement to believe on Him for salvation.

Paul's audience reacted much as modern skeptical audiences tend to react today. "Some mocked" and others said they would consider it later. Most went away unsaved. But "certain men clave unto him, and believed." That's the way it is today with evolutionist hearers of the message. Many will scoff and others will say they may think about it.

But some will believe!

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Questioning God


"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Romans 9:20).

Whenever one begins a question with "Why?" he should realize that the answer must necessarily be theological, not scientific. Science can deal with the questions of "what" and "how," sometimes even with "where" and "when," but never with "why!" The "why" questions have to do with motives and purposes, even when dealing with natural phenomena ("Why does the earth rotate on its axis?" "Why do we have mosquitoes?"). Even though we can partially explain such things by secondary causes, we finally encounter a "first cause," and then the "why?" can be answered only by God.

The wise thing to do is simply to believe that He has good reasons for everything, whether we can discern them now or not. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). God the Creator "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11), and it is our high privilege simply to trust Him, not to question Him.

On the other hand, He often asks us: "Why?" "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" Jesus asked His disciples when they thought they were in great peril (Matthew 8:26). "If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" (John 8:46) He would say to those who question His Word.

Then to those who doubt His deity, the apostle Paul speaking in His name, asks: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" (Acts 26:. As the popular chorus goes: "God specializes in things thought impossible!" Our God is omniscient and knows what's best; He is omnipotent, so He can do it. He is all-loving and will surely do what's best for those who trust Him.